Improvement in skates



B. M. LANK.

Improvement ih Skates.

Patented May 30 BEEGHER M. LANK, or oswnco, kansas. I

IMPRQVEMENT in skA'rEe.

u y Specification forming pai't of Letters Patent No. 115,487, dated May 30, 1871.

\ To all whom `it may` concern:

ing a part of this specifica-tion, in which- Figure 1 represents a perspective view of the skate; Fig. 2.represents a rear elevation thereof; and Fig. 3 represents a vertical transverse section through the skate at the central hinge.

Similar letters of reference where they occur y in the separate figures denote like parts of the skate in the drawing. I am aware that skate-runnershave been made of two parallel piecesof metal united i l by screws, so that 'theymay be separated and groundsingly and again united 5 this I do not lay any claim to.

My invention consists in making skate run ners or irons of two pieces of met-al hinged together, and secured by screw or other fastenings, so that the skates, when necessary to be ground, may be swung apart upon their hinged joints or connections far enough to grind the edge of each piece or part of the runner, and then swung back and fastened, by which means 1 the edges of the runners that form the groove in the runner may b e laid easily and ground upon an ordinary stone, and the groove still preserved in true shape and form, and by any unskilled operator.

. 'Ilo enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, Iwill proceed to describe the same withreference to the drawing.

The two plates or pieces of which the skaterunner is composedare shown at a and b they are hinged together as at d d, and, when swung together so as to form a runner, are united by one or more screws, o, or other equally rm fastening. VThe support e for the heel of the boot or shoe of the ska-ter, as well as that, f,

for supporting the forward `part of the foot, are fastened to one of the sections or parts of the runner?) only. r It is immaterial to which half of the runner these supports are secured or fastened. The support c has a screw, g, projecting above it to take into the heel of the shoe or boot of the user, and the support f may have openings or slots t i in or through it for straps that pass over the instep or forward part of the foot to fasten the skate to the foot. The groove, as will be seen in Figs. 2 and 3, is of a V or angular form, so that when the two parts or sections, a b, that form it are separated the bevel ground on each is a plain flat surface, and may be held against and ground upon an ordinary stone, like any other straight-edged article. The two sections, a b, are precisely alike, except that their bev eled edges, which, when put together, forni the angular groove, incline in contrary directions.

And though I have represented a good and cheap form of skate in the drawing illustrative of my invention, other forms and more or less ornamental ones may be used; and so long as the runners are made of` two pieces hinged together, for the purpose herein described, they would come within my invention.

. Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new is A runner for skates composed of two parts or sections hinged together so that they may be swung apart but still be heldin true and proper position for grinding, and when ground be swung together and fastened into one, as it were, substantially as and for the purpose herein described and represented.

BEECHER M. LANK.

Witnesses J. W. DAVrosoN, J. W. PARKER. 

